"A new friend is a scary thing, sometimes." Here's the lovely back cover of "THE LOVE SONG OF MR. BYRD," (Oct/2025), from DCB Young Readers. The sweet feather is one of 10 beautiful illustrations by Newfoundland artist Caroline Clarke. Booklovers, you can pre-order now! @cormorantbooks.bsky.social

Maupassant's "The Necklace" - a portrait of #fakes: "She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station." #maupassant #botd #booksky

Honored to publish "The Love Song of Mr. Byrd" (Oct/25), with @cormorantbooks.bsky.social. An independent publisher, all their books are entirely made in Canada! Written by Canadians Illustrated by Canadians Edited by Canadians Designed by Canadians Published by Canadians and Printed in Canada!

"At twilight, the in-between time, anything can happen." The first chapter of "The Love Song of Mr. Byrd" is now free on Bookmanager.com if you need a little love rn.

Broadside Sudden morning rises - unsurprised by life, crisis, whispering over the city, in bells, in birds, in shadows floating out the 10th floor window - nothing returns to say goodbye - only hello. Swift, take me with you - Read all of Broadside : phdowding.blogspot.com/2025/07/broa... #poem

Best question at today's online middle-school presentation: "How did the book 1984 influence your dystopia, OCULUM?" Wow. My answer: oppressive and cruel Regulus was influenced by Big Brother. And love and free thought are banned in OCULUM, as in 1984. THANK YOU, fun & such great questions! #writer

On June 11, I’ll be speaking at the monthly CANSCAIP members’ meeting @ 7 pm ET. Meetings are via Zoom, & you can contact @canscaip.bsky.social for membership options or a one-time guest invitation. I hope to see you there! #CANkidlit #kidlit #picturebooks #novels #writerscraft #fiction #nonfiction

Check out our website for a 25% discount on all our books. Stock up on your summer reading! www.cormorantbooks.com/Sales/Summer... #BookSale #summersale #CanLit #IReadCanadian

A hawk keeps swooping by my office window as I work. I can see his fluffy belly feathers, he's so close. Makes me want to visit SMJ Falconry in Yorkshire! www.smjfalconry.co.uk

🏆 The Adversary by Michael Crummey has won the 2025 Dublin Literary Award! 🏆 Nominated by Newfoundland & Labrador Public Libraries and published by Knopf Canada, this powerful novel takes the top honour in the award’s 30th year. 🎉 #DublinLitAward #DLA30yrs

Roses are redde Noble are the manatees Yf we wante a bettir future Teach artes & humanityes

Here's a piece of music to celebrate the sustaining life of women in your life, whether mother, sister, daughter, friend. Enjoy Rivkah's Dance, with Allister T. @allistert.bsky.social

“A new friend is a scary thing, sometimes. You may have to change and adapt a little to make your friendship work.” Bat is wise in the way of friends. "The Love Song of Mr. Byrd" is coming soon, request a digital copy for review on the blog. @cormorantbooks.bsky.social #writer #writingcommunity

Spot the Spotted Owl. A little more wrought-iron whimsy from Toronto Island last week! #writingretreat #writer #torontoisland

Today in Whimsy: sweet wrought-iron bird art from Toronto Island! Who gets the worm? #ironart #chickadee #Toronto

Voted! One PAPER ballot, folded, put in the (overflowing) ballot box. Not an electronic scanner in sight. The three poll workers each had different coloured PENS, so no mix-ups. Seriously old school, and I've never been prouder to be Canadian! VOTE everyone!

Time out of the city for writing and a perfect window seat. Happy Saturday! #writer #writingcommunity

My sestina for poetry month, RESTORE: Let us shine in the tide and ramble, on the current, side by side, we begin. Hold each fragment of us and restore our shingled voices on the beach. We murmur in susurration, embrace our tides of imperfection. Full Poem: phdowding.blogspot.com/2023/12/phil...

May be a bit before it's truly green, but @friedawishinsky.bsky.social's message in her upcoming #MG #NF book KEEP OUR WORLD GREEN: WHY HUMANS NEED GARDENS, PARKS AND PUBLIC GREEN SPACES from @orcabook.bsky.social is important all year round. canlitforlittlecanadians.blogspot.com/2025/04/keep...

One year ago today I met the Governor General of Canada. What a great day and honour that was, that year went fast! @cormorantbooks.bsky.social #writer #firefly

Thank you to @katiedozier.bsky.social and #ThePoetrySpace podcast for reintroducing me to the poetry of Li-Young Lee ("Big Clock" almosted gutted me). For Day 16 of #NationalPoetryMonth his poem "From Blossoms".

Sometimes it's about love. My next book, "The Love Song of Mr. Byrd," is now available for review! To request a Digital Review Copy of this short, sweet, lyrical ballad in 10 chapters, please use the publisher link in my post. @cormorantbooks.bsky.social #writers #kidbooks #writing

Entanglement Sustained, bird flight high over the beach, the curve of the heart, the beat of the wing. Where trees lie wound against the sky, grey arms fully bound with one another, grown. So that every breeze will hold them, trembling together in a symphony, sing. Full poem below. #poetrymonth

LOSS and Cailleboitte: A #poem and a paired painting for #poetrymonth #writer #poetry #poet

I played Air on the G String (Bach) on my cello for my daughter. She was quiet, she hasn't heard me play for a while, and patiently listened to all my mistakes. Then she asked me to play it again! That's love, right?

For Day 7 of #NationalPoetryMonth a flame of girl: "Dance, Girl" by #cankidlit author, poet, musician @phdowding.bsky.social #kidlit #poetry makes me want to dance defiance till I burn. More on her blog: phdowding.blogspot.com/2020/11/danc...

DANTE: [Lost yn a darke woode] VERGIL: BIHOLDE! Ich, Vergil, have come heere to leade thee through the three realmes of the afterlyfe. DANTE: That escalatid quicklye.

Lesson 13: "Practice corporeal politics... Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them." ***There will be chances to practice corporeal politics all over the USA on April 5th.*** Find yours here: handsoff2025.com

Congratulations Caroline Fernandez and Kate Blair for being Willow Award finalists. Plague Thieves and A Mist of Memories

Introducing "The Love Song of Mr. Byrd" coming Oct/2025 from DCB! A red maple tree branch, a summer twilight, an unlikely friendship, and the sweetest song of all. Press release, media copies, interview/review req & more on the blog: phdowding.blogspot.com #writer #kidlit @cormorantbooks.bsky.social

Can we all use some love? The cover of my next book is almost ready, and it's SO sweet I can't wait to share it. This one's not about climate collapse, homelessness, pandemic, or war ... it's about love. ❤️❤️ Press release soon! @cormorantbooks.bsky.social #writer #kidsbooks #canadian

“Most avid readers are created between the ages of eight and 12. Our whole industry should be invested in this reading cohort.” Predictions from middle-reader publishers: bit.ly/4l0Bi0g #kidlit #mglit

Sun, crocuses, robins ... here's my annual music post for Spring, a few days late! Enjoy my guitar instrumental with Allister T. @allistert.bsky.social #musican #guitar #fingerstyle #spring

Measles is not a benign childhood illness. I had my own brush with measles and mortality, age 11 (and temporary blindness) ...

And here's my first starter pack (filled too quickly!) of Canadian authors and illustrators of books for children and teens. Just because it bears repeating, like all good things. ❤️🇨🇦📚 go.bsky.app/2Ys743U

Hurray for Henry's Apple! To celebrate the 16th birthday of my first book, The Gargoyle in My Yard, here's one of the best reasons to write books for young people: when a non-reader becomes a reader ... phdowding.blogspot.com/2012/11/henr... #writer #books #childrensbooks #gargoyles

Happy St. Paddy's Day! Go green or go home! #StPatrick'sDay #Green #Lion #GreenLion #Art #Painting

Looking for Canadian #KidLit #YALit authors, illustrators, organizations as well as book bloggers who focus on boosting #CanKidLit? I've created a Starter Pack to help get you started: go.bsky.app/CzuFhAd

Friends in the Middlesex County area: you might be interested in an upcoming workshop that I'm running at the Strathroy Library! An All in One Writers' Workshop to jumpstart your publishing journey! You can register for it here: middlesex.libnet.info/event/12464876

Actual AI would remind us that ... we put about 2000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every day with our Web searches ... and every query to "AI" burns about ten times as much as every Web search. (p. 177) Can someone (without querying AI) please stop us. 😬😬😱 @timothysnyder.bsky.social

It's alchemy for me.

Entrepreneurial mystery book lovers in Toronto! The owner Toronto's mystery bookstore, SLEUTH OF BAKER STREET, is retiring. He is looking for someone interested in taking over the bookshop, gave me permission to post publicly about this. sleuthofbakerstreet.ca #Toronto #IndieBookstores

"I have no life but this - To lead it here - Nor any Death - but lest Dispelled from there - Nor ties to Earths to come - Nor action new - Except through this extent - The Realm of you." Today in Emily Dickinson: The Realm of You Poem #1398

I've always suspected that #picturebooks are the toughest write of all. Now confirmed. It's more about what you don't write than what you do. Here's my daily stack from Toronto Public Library. #writer

You've heard of a round robin? Well how about a Royal Robin? I just love painting English Robins and I love painting with gold! Time consuming, but fun! #EnglishRobin #Robin #Gouache #RoyalRobin #gold #GoucheRobin #Bird #Birds

if you're a #parent or #teacher of teens living in #NewBrunswick, get them writing with this contest named for author and poet Sheree Fitch from the Writers' Federation of New Brunswick. Deadline for the Sheree Fitch Prize is Mar 30 2025. canlitforlittlecanadians.blogspot.com/2025/02/2025...

Thanks to The Writer's Union of Canada and their Ontario Writer's in the Schools grant today! WITS supports author's in-school visits with students, and it's a wonderful way to keep us all connected. We'll be talking about FIREFLY, see you soon! #writers #writersinschools

Here's a quiet tune for today. Enjoy SONNET, my sweet fingerstyle guitar tune with Allister @allistert.bsky.social Album cover by Patricia Storms @stormsy.bsky.social #guitarist #guitar #musician

Writer friends: have you re-read an older book of yours lately? I just read The Gargoyle in My Yard (2009) for an upcoming school visit. It felt like putting on an old coat and finding a photo of friends, a $2 bill, and a restaurant receipt in the pockets, all familiar yet possibly someone else's.

A break from the city in Algonquin Park this week, cold, beautiful, and quiet.